1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a running control device for an electric vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years attention is being directed to electric automobiles, since they are vehicles that impose a low burden on the environment. However, the batteries that are used in electric automobiles have the shortcoming that their specific energy densities are low compared with gasoline, so that the range of electric automobiles is short as compared with the range of gasoline automobiles. As a means of reducing the consumption of electrical power (hereinafter termed “power consumption”), a technique is per se known of reducing the operating time of the motor by mixing inertial running into the running control, thus utilizing inertial energy effectively. For example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2010-120503, a method of running control is disclosed in which appropriate upper and lower limit values are provided for target vehicle speed during constant speed running, and in which acceleration and coasting are repeated so as to maintain a state in which the actual vehicle speed is kept between these upper and lower target vehicle speed limit values.